ALMA Community Days 2013: Preparing for Cycle 2

ESO Garching, November 19-20, 2013

ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array, is currently carrying out Early Science Cycle 1 observations for the astronomical community. A global collaboration involving Europe, North America, East Asia and the host country Chile, ALMA is expected to be the leading observatory at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths for decades to come. Early Science observations started in September 2011 with Cycle 0, and have already yielded data of unparalleled quality leading to spectacular scientific results. While the scientific capabilities offered in the current cycle are already greatly enhanced compared to the initial Cycle 0 capabilities, commissioning work is ongoing and it is expected that further enhancements will be offered in the upcoming Cycle 2.

As for previous cycles, the ESO ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) will organise Community Days at the ESO Headquarters in order to optimally prepare the European astronomical community for Cycle 2. The ESO ARC coordinates the network of nodes making up the European ALMA Regional Centre, which provides the interface between ALMA and the European scientific community. The Community Days will focus heavily on proposal preparation and include a series of presentations related to ALMA and Cycle 2, as well as hands-on tutorials for the ALMA Observing Tool and the Simulators. These should enable novice and advanced users alike to create observing projects making full use of the unique capabilities of ALMA in Cycle 2.